Sleeve form



H. O. MOORE March 31, W36.

SLEEVE FORM Filed June 19, 1934 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My invention relates to sleeve forms of the type used by window dressers in the display of clothing. Such a form must be adaptable for use under varying conditions. Tailored garments are usually displayed with no crease in the front of the sleeve, hence the sleeve form Wants to fill out the sleeve nicely and roundly, but on the other hand, ready-made garments are frequently displayed with a sharp crease down the front, and

the sleeve therefore wants to be displayed in a manner which will give the effect of slimness without departing from the sharp crease, yet the sleeve must be filled within the crease and not permitted to sag or wrinkle. Sometimes it is 5 desirable to show a greater fullness near the top of the sleeve, and tastes among display men differ as to the amount of fullness which should be displayed in the sleeve near the cuff. Furthermore, the sleeve must not be so displayed that it stands v ,0 out stifliy from the garment, as it sometimes does,

but instead should drape naturally and smoothly.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a sleeve form which is sufficiently flexible to accommodate these varying tastes of display men, to the end that they can accomplish any elfect desired by slight manipulation of the form. It is, of course, an object to provide a sleeve form which will be sufficiently stiff, at least from front to rear, that it will hold the sleeve against folding and draping, but which will not be so stiff as to cause the sleeve to stand away from the garment.

Associated with these objects it is a further object to provide means whereby the sleeve will 35 be properly rounded and filled in the portion opposite the armhole of the garment, for while the sleeve has a double thickness which tends to stiffen it throughout most of its length, in the shoulder or armhole portions it has only the one thick- .ness, and if this portion is permitted to sag, trouble is encountered in the lower portion of the sleeve.

Sleeve forms of heavy material, in addition to being stiff, are difficult to support so that they will not fall from the display form. Topcoats and overcoats are generally displayed on stands rather than on forms, and such heavy sleeve forms tend to fall through the sleeve, there being nothing from which they can be readily supported. It is another object, then, to provide a sleeve form which is light in weight, and which will tend to support itself by contact with the inside of the sleeve, and will not slip through the sleeve after 55 being shaped in the desired position.

It is a further object to provide a sleeve form which may be simply constructed, and of such material and in such a manner as to be comparatively inexpensive.

It is a further object to provide a sleeve form 5 which is reversible, so that it is not necessary to provide rights and lofts for the display of any garment, but rather two identical sleeve forms may be employed for the purpose. It is, therefore, necessary only to manufacture a single arti- 10 cle rather than pairs, and the cost of the form gian be lessened by reason of such standardiza- With these objects in view, and others as will appear hereafter, my invention comprises the novel form and the novel combination and arrangement of parts thereof, as shown in the accompanying drawing, and as will be more particularly described in this specification and defined by the claims which terminate the same. 0

In the accompanying drawing I have shown my invention embodied in a form of construction which is at present preferred by me, and with parts arranged as they would be for one manner of use, although it will be evident that the construction can be varied, and as I will explain later, the relative positioning of parts will be changed according to the use intended and taste of the display man.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my sleeve form, shown flat.

Figure 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the wing folded in as it would be for insertion in a sleeve, and Figure 3 is a partial longitudinal section on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Essentially the form consists of an outer cover or envelope, designated by the numeral I, a fluffy or downy filling 2 contained within it, a shoulder cap 3, whereby the form may be supported merely by hanging it upon the shoulder of a display form, and a pad 4 within the envelope I in the vicinity of the armhole region. The envelope l in general conforms to the shape of a sleeve, but for a reason which will appear hereafter I prefer that it be formed with a wing 5 at its rear edge in the vicinity of the junction between the lower rear part of the sleeve and the armhole of the coat.

The material of which the envelope is made may be any which is suitable for the purpose. Since it should be flexible and light I prefer that the envelope be made of light ticking, and since the preferred filling is down, the envelope should be down-proof. The envelope is suitably seamed at its edges, and the wing 5 may form an integral extension of the envelope or may be separately formed and attached, or, if made as an integral part of the envelope, it may be stitched along the dash line indicated at 6 to form in effect a hinge line about which it may swing. I prefer, however, that it be not stitched along this line, as the hinge line can be formed, if deemed necessary, by compressing or moving away from this line the down within the envelope.

The shoulder cap 3 is stitched to the envelope along the upper edge of the latter, and instead of the cap shown, any suitable means for attaching the envelope to a display form or for supporting it therefrom may be employed. The cap is not strictly essential, as the sleeve form is so light that it will support itself within the sleeve. However, it should be noted that the cap 3 may be reversed, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3, and this, in conjunction with the flexibility and adaptability of the sleeve form, makes the form reversible.

The pad 4 may be made of any suitable material having a reasonable degree of stiffness, and to this end I may employ cotton wadding enclosed within a light fabric cover I. This cover merely serves to hold the wadding in place so that it will not be distributed throughout the entire envelope l, and to further assist in this the pad 4 may be stitched through or quilted, though preferably horizontal lines are not employed, as this might tend to make the sleeve form too stiff, and. possibly to hold it away from the skirt of the garment. The pad 4 is stitched to the envelope l at the upper edge of the latter, as indicated at 8, but preferably is only secured to this envelope around the curve of the upper edge of the latter, and is not secured below this curve; consequently it is somewhat loose inside the envelope, and the downy filling 2 may be pushed or patted into place between the pad and either face of the envelope l.

In Figures 2 and 3 the pad 4 has been shown pressed to one side of the envelope, with the down filling in behind it, but mostly compressedor moved from between the pad and the outer face of the envelope, and thus this outer face is somewhat stiffened, for it lies in the vicinity of the armhole of the garment. The sleeve form as a whole, however, is quite fiexible and light, and if it is desired to obtain greater fullness in one place or another, or in the form as a whole, the downy filling may be fluffed up by patting it gently, and can be compressed or shifted in any region desired by patting or pressing it, or by shaking the down from one end to the other. If a sharp crease is desired, the form can be compressed just inside the crease by running the two hands down the sleeve at opposite sides of the crease, and when thus compressed it will stay in place and give the sharp crease, yet with adequate fullness and smoothness and body behind it to prevent wrinkling, and to hold the curve of the sleeve.

The wing 5, placed at the junction between the lower rear part of the sleeve and the armhole, where fullness is provided in the garment for upward reaching of the arm, tends to fill this fullness and to give the garment on display a natural appearance, without wrinkling at this point, and since the down fills the wing 5, the amount of this fullness can be regulated to fit perfectly each individual garment, yet will not appear stiff. In addition, the wing has sufficient inherent stiffness that it tends to lie in the plane of the form as a whole, and this further serves to maintain this part of the garment filled out.

While I have referred to the filling 2 as down, and while down is the preferred filling, substitutes for down, for example kapok, can be used if preferred. Likewise material other than cotton wadding can be used for the pad 4.

The essential feature of the sleeve form is that it is an envelope containing a fluffy or downy material, which has the advantage that it can be fluffed up to any extent desired or compressed and moved about to obtain fullness where desired, and slimness wherever that is desired, that it is not stiff and. therefore will permit the sleeve to drape or hang naturally, but without wrinkles, and will not cause the sleeve to stand away from the garment, and that it is light enough that it will not fall from the form after it is put in place, and can be easily folded up for storing away, or otherwise roughly treated, without damaging it.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A sleeve form for display of garments comprising a flat outer envelope shaped generally to conform to the outline of a flattened sleeve, and freely open from wrist to shoulder, a stiffening pad enclosed within and partially filling said envelope, and secured by the shoulder seam, said pad extending down as far as the bottom of the armhole, a filling of loose fluify material completely filling the remainder of said envelope, and. in use underlying the pad to hold it out beneath the sleeve within which the form is placed, and a shoulder cap of flexible material secured about the shoulder portion of the envelope, and reversible for supporting engagement with either the right or left shoulder of a garment display form.

2. A sleeve form for display of garments comprising a fiat outer envelope shaped generally to conform to the outline of a flattened sleeve, and

freely open from wrist to shoulder, but having a foldable wing extending rearwardly from its rear edge at the level of the bottom of the armhole,

a stiffening pad enclosed in the shoulder portion of and partially filling said envelope, and extending down as far as the bottom of the armhole, and a filling of loose fluffy material completely filling the remainder of said envelope and wing, and in use underlying the pad to hold it out beneath the sleeve within which the form is placed.

HILDRED O. MOORE. 

